Thanksgiving takes on a new meaning when you get to college. Finally, after weeks of working hard at school with dwindling temperatures and climbing levels of stress, we are allowed to go home to (hopefully) warmer weather and lower stress levels. Of course, Thanksgiving isn’t here yet. This is the week before Thanksgiving, the week where Professors find the time to cram in one more prelim or twenty-page research paper draft before it hits 1 p.m. Wednesday, November 24 and they don’t have your attention anymore.
The important thing to do this week is not give up, right? Thanksgiving is so close you can almost taste the turkey. Look on the bright side, if you get though this week then you are home free. The way I see it, there are two ways to get through this trying time. The first is to get a good pep talk, Bad News Bears style. Unfortunately, I’ve never actually seen the Bad News Bears, and my reference is based solely on the knowledge I’ve gained from watching too many VH1 specials (they love quirky old movie references like that), so I can’t help you out there.
The second, more popular coping mechanism is one that I am able to help with: the art of distraction. I am not suggesting that being distracted will help with your GPA, but don’t worry, you won’t be getting those grades back until after Thanksgiving. At Cornell, as you know, we work hard and play hard. Sometimes it’s good just to step away from all that. What is a better distraction than Seinfeld, the show about nothing? The first three seasons of the show are finally being released on DVD this month. I was always more of a Friends fan, but Seinfeld holds a dear place in my heart because, as a New Yorker, Thanksgiving is all about getting back to good old New York Neurotics, and who better to do it with than Elaine, Kramer, George, Jerry and their bizarros. If you watched the show you will remember that a bizarro is someone who closely resembles a person but is not them. Some will tell you that at Cornell, everyone has a bizzaro. I have always wondered, what happens if you meet your own bizzaro?
Maybe after watching some episodes of Seinfeld you will better understand my Thanksgiving experience. For most of you, Thanksgiving will be a great chance to relax. You’ll eat your turkey, enjoy family time and maybe take a good long nap after dinner. Not where I come from. Except for the lack of prelims, being home for Thanksgiving inevitably gives me more to worry about than being at school. It starts out innocently enough. The first day home is nice, if a little awkward after two months spent away, but the last day of Thanksgiving break I seem to find myself looking to hitch a ride back to this fine place, ready to do anything to escape my family’s constant questions over where my life is going, even tackle my final exams in one last blaze of glory.
Distracted yet? My hope is that maybe getting off the study-drugs long enough to allow yourself a mental break will help you make it through what could be a very long week. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Sometimes its good to just do nothing, although I don’t expect that many Cornellians are going to agree with me on this one. Ok, now you can get back to studying.
Archived article by Logan Bromer
Sun Staff Writer